Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Processes – Preparation of product which is dry in final form
Reexamination Certificate
2000-09-01
2001-04-10
Cano, Milton (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Processes
Preparation of product which is dry in final form
C426S467000, C426S469000, C099S286000, C099S323400, C099S348000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06214397
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a roasting device and, more particularly, to a coffee bean roasting device for roasting small quantities of coffee beans in the convenience of a person's home.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Coffee beans develop color, taste, and smell during roasting. Roasting processes must produce consistent bean roasts for a wide variety of desired bean flavors. If the beans are not circulated evenly inside the roasting chamber, coffee beans will not roast evenly. Thus, even a skilled roast master has difficulty reproducing consistent coffee roasts from time to time.
There are two primary methods for roasting coffee beans. The first method is drum roasting. Drum roasting involves a technique similar to clothes drying. Unroasted or green coffee beans are placed in a round drum. Heating elements adjacent to the drum heat both the drum and the air inside of the drum. The heat from the inside wall of the drum is transferred to the coffee beans. As the coffee beans roll inside the drum, the coffee beans are heated and scorched, changing from a green state to a roasted condition. To generate darker roasts, the coffee beans are heated in the drum at a higher temperature or at the same temperature but for a longer time. U.S. Pat. No. 4,860,461 to Tamaki, et al., shows a drum roaster. In Tamaki, stirring and exposing the beans to radiant heat from infrared heaters adjacent to the drum roasts the beans in the drum.
The second method involves a fluid bed roaster that blows air up from the bottom end of a roasting chamber. The air raises the green coffee beans up on a bed of hot air causing the beans to circulate inside the chamber. U.S. Pat. No. 3,964,175 to Sivetz shows such a fluid bed coffee roasting system. In Sivetz, air is heated to a selected temperature that roasts tie beans primarily by convection. The coffee beans are secondarily roasted by the conduction of heat from bean to bean and from the inside walls of the roasting chamber to the coffee beans.
Coffee bean roasting systems, such as those described in Tamaki and Sivetz, are very large complex machines. Thus, current roasting systems are usually operated in industrial locations. While large roasting machines may be suitable for the coffee roasting industry or for retail coffee shops that require roasting high volumes of coffee beans daily, they are ill-suited for home use that require smaller quantities of coffee beans. Moreover, few coffee lovers would tolerate a machine the size of a refrigerator taking up valuable kitchen space no matter how much they enjoy roasting their own coffee.
Existing roasting machines are also difficult to operate and expensive to maintain. Additionally, large roasting machines require custom equipment and include complex exhaust systems. Thus, coffee roasting systems are not feasible for ordinary home use. Finally, large coffee roasting machines are expensive.
Accordingly, a need remains for a home use coffee roasting device that evenly roasts a small quantity of coffee beans. A need also remains for a home use coffee roasting device that is simple, small, inexpensive, and easy to operate and maintain.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A roasting device is designed to fit and operate inside a conventional, general purpose, home oven. The roasting device utilizes the heating and exhaust system already in place for the oven. This allows the roasting device to be substantially less complex and less expensive than existing coffee roasting systems.
The roasting device includes a roasting chamber or drum for containing the coffee beans or other like foods to be roasted. The roasting chamber has a first and a second end and a substantially cylindrical sidewall. The substantially cylindrical sidewall includes a plurality of perforations uniformly distributed along its length. The perforations allow the heat from the conventional home oven to reach the coffee beans in the rotating chamber during roasting thereby producing evenly roasted coffee beans. The coffee beans discard chaff during roasting that is expelled through the perforations to a tray positioned underneath the roasting chamber. The tray is fixedly attached to the body. The plurality of perforations is sized according to a size of the coffee beans being roasted. The first and second ends are substantially concave for preventing the coffee beans from adhering to the ends. The second end includes a lid for loading and unloading the coffee beans into the roasting chamber.
The roasting system includes a body or housing that encloses a rotating mechanism. The rotating mechanism includes a shaft for rotating the roasting chamber during roasting, the shaft being adapted to receive the chamber. The body includes a key mounted to the body for engaging the rotating mechanism and an on/off lever for turning the rotating mechanism on when the lever is in a first position and off when the lever is in a second position. The rotating mechanism includes a drive drum having a spring for winding the spring responsive to a wind up key and a take up drum coupled to the drive drum for taking up the spring during roasting. A plurality of gears is coupled to the drive and take up drums for transferring rotation of the drive and take up drums to the drum. The rotating mechanism includes an escapement assembly coupled to the plurality of gears for controlling the rotation of the roasting chamber. The roasting system includes a handle for manipulating the roasting system in and out of a conventional home oven. Importantly, the entire roasting system is sized to fit within the conventional home oven and is preferably made of stainless steel.
A method for roasting coffee beans or other like foods comprises loading coffee beans into a roasting chamber or drum of a coffee bean roaster, rotating the roasting chamber with a rotating mechanism coupled to the chamber, and placing the rotating coffee bean roaster in a preheated conventional home oven until the coffee beans reach the desired roasted consistency. Rotating the roasting chamber includes winding up the rotating mechanism of the coffee bean roaster and turning on the rotating mechanism. The rotating mechanism releases stored energy that it gears down with the plurality of gears. The geared down energy is then transferred to the roasting chamber via a shaft adapted to receive the chamber. The method also includes positioning a tray underneath the roasting chamber for catching chaff discarded by the coffee beans during roasting and carrying the roaster to the oven using a handle attached to the roaster. A cooling tray is used for cooling down the beans faster after roasting.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2325648 (1943-08-01), Kayden
patent: 2565967 (1951-08-01), Jones
patent: 2639133 (1953-05-01), Clary
patent: 3964175 (1976-06-01), Sivetz
patent: 4860461 (1989-08-01), Tamaki et al.
patent: 4871901 (1989-10-01), Igusa et al.
patent: 5169231 (1992-12-01), Suzuki
patent: 5182981 (1993-02-01), Wilcox
patent: 5193444 (1993-03-01), Bar-Sheshet
patent: 5454298 (1995-10-01), Lu
patent: 5638607 (1997-06-01), Lemmen et al.
patent: 6123971 (2000-09-01), Tidland
patent: 92/12643 (1992-08-01), None
Cano Milton
Marger & Johnson & McCollom, P.C.
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